A Truly Happy Birthday
by NaruDeeds
Summary: It's Naruto's birthday and Sakura knows the pain he keeps hidden away on this day and vows to make sure he has a truly happy birthday. (This fic is a celebration of H&E's 8th birthday!)


Heaven and Earth recently turned eight! To celebrate, here's a fluffy birthday fic I've wanted to do. Enjoy!

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else this story would be a manga chapter.

* * *

October 10; it was a day that had been celebrated in Konoha for almost 20 years now. October 10 marked the day that the legendary Yondaime Hokage stopped the Kyubi's rampage on Konoha by sealing it into his very own son.

All citizens of Konoha had tragedy strike them on that night; the death toll was innumerable. But that wouldn't stop them from celebrating the great demon's defeat in subsequent years. For the longest time, the villagers would celebrate the Kyubi's death and mercilessly mock and beat the small child the beast had been sealed into; then that child grew up.

That child weathered the scorn, hatred and abuse and grew up to be one of the most powerful heroes Konoha had ever produced. That was why Naruto Uzumaki found himself strolling the streets in the middle of the Kyubi festival that very moment, surrounded by a group of his precious people.

Just ten years ago he would've been hiding, praying that no one found him. Now he was being greeted as a hero by every villager he came across. He had always dreamed of birthdays like this when he was a small child.

But a child's dreams weren't always 100 percent accurate. While Naruto no longer had to worry about getting beat on his birthday, and was able to enjoy the yearly Kyubi festival now, the day was filled with a fresh pain thanks to the knowledge he had acquired over the years.

Today was Naruto's 20th birthday, but today was also the day his parents died. This day was the day that his chances of growing up surrounded by a loving family were cruelly stripped away. It had never really been Naruto's style to reflect on negative thoughts, and it certainly had never been his style to let them affect him... But there were just some things that couldn't be helped.

His parents were happy to bring him into the world, but on the very same day he came to be, his parents sacrificed themselves for him and their village. So while this was Naruto's birthday; it was also his parents' death-days, and that knowledge would forever blacken this day for Naruto.

Yet here he was, walking the streets with his team and other precious people, "celebrating" the day. It was his only option really; he didn't want to burden his precious people with the pain that today brought him.

"It's your birthday, so I'm not going to say what we should do... But there's a lot of games set up in the main market square." The beautiful pink-haired girl walking by Naruto's side announced, breaking him out of his reverie.

"Games? Aren't we a little old for games Sakura-chan?" Naruto teased.

"We're only 20 Naruto; that's not old." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I think you are the type of person who would enjoy senseless games, no?" Naruto's other teammate, Sai, said.

"Senseless? Games are never senseless Sai!" Naruto grinned.

"Games are never senseless? That's interesting. In one of the books I'm currently reading..."

"No! No talk of books on my birthday Sai!" Naruto groaned. "All these years and you're still relying on books to get you through social situations..."

"They're very useful." Sai countered. "Perhaps if you read a few of the ones I suggested you would understand."

"The day Naruto reads a book is the day I learn how to fly." Sakura snorted.

"Well now that's not true." A smiling man with spiky, gravity-defying hair and one eye covered by his leaf headband spoke up. "Naruto has read plenty of Jiraiya-sama's fantastic works at my recommendation."

"Oh really?" Sakura turned towards Naruto and glared at him while cracking her knuckles.

"No no no! Kakashi-sensei is lying Sakura! I swear! I would never read those perverted books!"

"You're lucky it's your birthday Naruto, or else you'd be sailing clear out of Konoha right now for reading those books then lying to me about it."

"What about Kakashi-sensei? He's the one who gave me the books!" Naruto pointed out, trying to direct some of Sakura's wrath to his sensei, who had brought it about in the first place.

"Hmm... that's right. Let's see... which way is the main market square..."

"It's just this way; do you really not know that Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Which way Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Umm... that way." Kakashi pointed in the direction of the square, momentarily taking his eyes off his former student.

_**WHAM!**_

"STOP TURNING NARUTO INTO A PERV DAMNIT!" Sakura yelled after Kakashi as she sent him flying off in the direction of the main market with a powerful chakra-enhanced punch.

"Nice hit Sakura." A woman who looked to be in her late twenties grinned.

"Thanks Tsunade-sama." Sakura returned her master's grin.

"Yeah... nice hit Sakura-chan." Naruto nervously chuckled.

"That'll be you if I catch you reading that smut." Sakura playfully threatened.

"Awww come on, they're not that bad!"

"Again Naruto... you are so lucky it's your birthday." Sakura sighed. "You don't know how hard it is to resist the urge to hit you when you say stuff like that!"

"Games! Let's go play games!" Naruto yelped. Being on the receiving end of one of Sakura's punches was never on his to-do list. He quickly ran off in the direction of the main market square with his precious people in tow.

* * *

"OHHHH YEAH! EAT THAT SAI!" Naruto crowed after successfully defeating Sai at the beanbag toss.

Sakura watched with a small smile on her face as Sai proceeded to calmly explain to Naruto that he had allowed Naruto to win since it was his birthday. This of course resulted in Naruto challenging Sai to another round, which the pale boy agreed to.

So far today had gone well. Sakura had picked Naruto up in the morning, gotten breakfast with him and then met the rest of their team and Tsunade before walking around the village and enjoying the Kyubi festival.

She was pleased that he seemed to be happy, but over the years, Sakura had learned that Naruto was not one to openly display any negative emotions in front of anyone if he could help it. She had never noticed his pain before when they were younger... But she had never really noticed him either... At least never for the right reasons.

As they got older though, Sakura began to learn more about the prank-loving dead last of their class. She began to notice the masks he wore when he wanted everyone to believe that he was strong and invulnerable. But it wasn't until just after the war ended that she noticed he would wear a mask on his birthday.

At first she had been completely perplexed; he was loved by his village, and the Kyubi festival had practically turned into one giant birthday celebration for Naruto. So she observed him as if he were one of her patients with a mysterious illness that she had to diagnose.

She had watched him carefully his 17th birthday and noticed the way his eyes would often flicker to the Hokage mountain and settle on the carving of the Yondaime for a brief second, before returning back to what was in front of him. Then it all hit her like a ton of bricks - Naruto wore a mask on his birthday because he missed his parents.

While all the village saw October 10 as the day Naruto was born, Naruto saw it as the day his parents died. The realization had practically broken Sakura's heart, but she didn't let herself get weighed down by it. Instead, Sakura made a vow to ensure that each of Naruto's birthdays were happy.

For his 18th and 19th birthdays, Sakura had gotten everyone together and had them celebrate with Naruto to keep his mind away from his pain. And both years, it was almost enough... but Sakura caught him walking home with a small frown on his face each time.

That wasn't going to happen this year though. Sakura was determined. She had a great plan, and had come up with the perfect birthday gift for him. For the first time in possibly his life, Naruto Uzumaki was going to truly enjoy his birthday.

Team 7 and Tsunade would enjoy the Kyubi festival before going to Naruto's birthday party, which Sakura had made sure was being catered by Ichiraku's Ramen. He would then be surrounded by all of his friends, have a great time, and then Sakura would get him alone and give him his present. She didn't need him to be alone to give it to him, but she preferred it. And during the entire time she was with him, Sakura would watch Naruto carefully and distract him whenever she saw through his mask and saw a frown slipping through. She would keep his thoughts from wandering into painful territory.

"HAH! I WON AGAIN!" Naruto cheered.

"Of course you did. What kind of friend would I be if I beat you on your birthday?"

"WHAT?! I told you not to hold back!"

"I'm not going to be a bad friend and defeat you at a game on your birthday Naruto."

"Damnit Sai! Kakashi-sensei, will you play me and not hold back?"

"I would Naruto, but I landed on my arm earlier when Sakura hit me and it's a little sore..."

"Well maybe you shouldn't be trying to corrupt my innocent teammate Sensei." Sakura huffed.

"Corrupt? Naruto wasn't exactly innocent..."

"Why don't you take me on Sakura?" Naruto nervously interrupted Kakashi before he could say anything further. "I know you won't hold back."

"Try not to let me kicking your ass at this beanbag toss game ruin your birthday Naruto." Sakura teased as she stepped next to her teammate. She took another careful glance at him from the corner of her eye, and was pleased to see no sign of a mask on his face.

_So far so good..._ She thought to herself with a pleased smile.

* * *

"Hey mind putting a couple slabs of beef on my plate Choji?" A man who had a large dog at his side asked.

"No problem!" The large man, Chouji, replied with a wide grin.

Naruto took a bite of his own beef as he took in his surroundings. After tying with Sakura at the bean bag toss game they had played a few more games before deciding to get lunch. Naruto had wanted Ichiraku's, but Sakura promised him he could have all the ramen he wanted at his birthday party tonight. So instead, he found himself here at the barbeque restaurant where Team 8 and Team 10 were waiting to eat lunch, and naturally decided to eat together.

As far as birthdays went, this had been one of his best ones so far. His mind kept wandering back to his parents, but when he wasn't thinking about that, he was making new memories with his precious people.

"Aren't you glad we came here instead of overloading on ramen Naruto?" Sakura asked. She was sitting very close to him since they had such a large party; everyone had to squeeze together to make room.

"I can't complain." Naruto grinned as he wolfed down another piece of delicious barbequed beef. Naruto had a feeling that the reason he was having such a great birthday was because of Sakura. She had been the one to make all of these plans, and she had been watching him like a hawk all day.

Any time his mind started wandering towards his parents, Sakura would keep his thoughts grounded and direct him towards something happier. He wasn't sure if it was on purpose or if she just had really lucky timing. He had always been careful to keep his pain on this day from his friends, especially her. She didn't need to concern herself with this.

"So Sakura, how's the day been going with Naruto?" Ino asked.

"I think we've been having a fun time, right guys?"

"Of course!" Naruto grinned.

"Other than being punched across Konoha, it's been an enjoyable day so far." Kakashi agreed.

"This beats paperwork any day of the week." Tsunade chimed in.

"Today has contained many of the elements for an enjoyable birthday, according to a book I read last month." Sai agreed.

"That's great, but I'm talking about _you_ specifically Sakura." Ino pressed with a teasing smile.

"You already got my answer you snooping pig." Sakura grumbled as a small blush overtook her cheeks.

"What do you mean Sakura specifically Ino?" Naruto asked, clueless as ever.

"She's just teasing me Naruto." Sakura answered before Ino could say anything. "But enough on that. Are you all coming to Naruto's party tonight?"

"Of course! It's at your house, right?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah. It starts at six and will go for however long Naruto here can stay up." Sakura smiled.

"I too will be there." Shino announced, to the surprise of everyone at the table. He was so quiet that they had nearly forgotten he was there. "I won't miss the birthday party of a true comrade."

"Hehe, thanks Shino. Sorry I missed your party this year."

"It's ok Naruto. I know a lot of people came down with the flu or else they would've attended."

"Oh definitely." Sakura chimed in. "It was such an inconvenient time for the flu bug to break out!"

Everyone sitting at the table nodded their heads in agreement with Sakura. Truth was, a lot of people about Shino's birthday. Everyone knew how sensitive Shino had always been to being left out or forgotten, so they all claimed they came down with the flu. They even had Sakura and Tsunade confirm the "outbreak" so Shino wouldn't get offended.

Naruto wasn't sure what a Shino birthday party would be like, but he would try to remember to go to Shino's party next year.

"So have you gotten any awesome presents yet today Naruto?" Kiba asked, shifting the conversation away from potentially awkward territory.

"Sort of. I've gotten to spend the entire day with my team, so I can't complain."

"Sakura tells me she figured out the best present to get you." Ino announced, earning her a glare from her pink-haired friend.

"Sakura you don't need to get me a present. Today has been great."

"Well you're getting a present anyways and you're going to like it. And thank you SO much for telling Naruto about it Ino."

"Oh no problem." Ino grinned, which only irritated Sakura further.

"Well I'm full." Naruto announced as he finished the last piece of beef on his plate. "I could eat more, but Sakura-chan here promised me there would be ramen tonight. So I think I'll save myself for then."

"You really have an unnatural obsession with ramen Naruto. Perhaps you should marry it." Sai said with his weird smile on his face.

"Did you just make a joke Sai?" Naruto gasped.

"I think I did. The book that I was reading said that if someone really likes something it's funny when you tell them they should marry it. Wasn't it funny?"

"Hilarious." Sakura deadpanned as sweat dripped down the backs of everyone's heads other than Sai's.

"It's not funny when you try to explain the joke afterwards." Chouji advised.

"I see..." Sai nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Alright, well I'm gonna go train. Who wants to join me?" Naruto asked in a voice filled to the brim with enthusiasm.

"So soon after eating?" Chouji asked.

"Let's do it! I'm gonna take you down Uzumaki!" Kiba crowed.

"Hah, you haven't been a challenge for me since we were genin." Naruto countered with a cocky smirk.

"Could you be more specific? Because you were a genin up until two years ago!" Kiba shot back.

"Oh come on." Naruto groaned. "That was just because Baa-chan here can't take a joke."

"A jonin would never draw a mustache on the Hokage's face Naruto." Tsunade smirked, referring to a prank he pulled shortly after the war. "That's definitely something a genin would do. Surely now that you're a jonin you understand? If not, I may have to demote you to a genin again."

"I understand! Jeez, let's go train!"

"Who the heck wants to train on their birthday?" Ino sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Naruto, that's who." Sakura answered as she smiled at her teammate. "Team 7's training grounds?"

"Hell yeah, let's go! You coming Shikamaru?"

The man whose hair eerily resembled a pineapple looked up at Naruto. "It's my day off. I'll pass."

"Fine. You can pay the bill then; let's go everyone!"

"Hey wait I didn't..."

"How kind of you to pay. I don't understand how I don't get treated to lunch more often as Hokage." Tsunade cut Shikamaru off.

"Thanks for lunch Shikamaru. It was delicious." Kakashi added.

"You are all so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. He looked up, but everyone had already left.

"Seriously... who trains so quickly after eating on their day off?" He grumbled to no one.

* * *

Tsunade watched as Naruto caught Kiba in the side of the gut with a quick kick that knocked him off his feet.

"So when are you going to start kicking my ass again Kiba?" Naruto taunted. "Because eventually we're going to have to go to Sakura's house for my birthday party."

"All 17 of those blows were just lucky!" Kiba countered as he picked himself up.

"YOU DROPPED YOUR GUARD NARUTO-KUN!" A man clad in a hideous green jumpsuit with thick eyebrows yelled. He flew at Naruto intending to kick the boy upside the head, but a blur of pink suddenly appeared between the two boys.

Before he could react, Sakura caught his foot and sent him hurdling across the training grounds.

"You dropped _your_ guard Lee." Sakura grinned as Lee came skidding to a halt.

"I had him you know."

"I know, but what kind of teammate would I be if I let you have all the fun Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Wow, did you even see Haruno-sama move?" A voice gasped. Tsunade looked to her left and was surprised to see a crowd of villagers had gathered.

_The difference a few years can make..._ Tsunade thought to herself. When she first became Hokage, the Kyubi festival was a day to celebrate the defeat of a powerful demon and honor those who gave their lives. But it also had a darker undertone.

It was a point of great shame for Tsunade that the Kyubi festival was also the day that villagers chose to take their anger out towards the demon on it's container. She only witnessed it once, and she quickly stopped it... but she knew that it occurred before she was the Hokage.

Then Naruto returned from his trip with Jiraiya. He had already started to gain the villagers respect before he left, but he quickly earned their full respect shortly after returning. His strength and determination won them the war against Obito.

After the war had ended, many of the villagers proposed changing the name of the Kyubi festival so it was simply an Autumn Festival, but tradition won out in the end. That didn't mean that the villagers were content with keeping it as it had always been however.

For the first time ever, the villagers began celebrating the Kyubi after the war. Naruto's friendship with the demon had become common knowledge after all. The festival that was concurring today was a testament to Naruto's charisma, and to her village's new attitude towards jinchurikis.

There were still those that hated Naruto and the Kyubi, but one could never completely remove bigots from the world. Tsunade was just proud that the vast majority of her village had accepted Naruto as a fellow citizen.

Tsunade returned her attention to the chaotic spar before her. Sakura had a glowing green hand resting on Naruto's face. Kiba had apparently managed to land a punch. Judging by the way his body was twitching in a small crater, he had not been prepared for Sakura's counter attack however.

"Awww no fair! You can't heal Naruto during the spar!" Kiba groaned as he pulled himself out of the crater he made when Sakura punched him straight into the ground.

"I would be doing this on the battlefield." Sakura countered as she withdrew her hand from Naruto's now fully healed face.

"That's it, let's gang up on Naruto and Sakura everyone!"

"You want to take us on together?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised. "Alright then."

Tsunade watched as Sakura whispered what she assumed was some sort of plan into Naruto's ear. From the looks of things, Naruto was pleased by Sakura's plan because a wide grin enveloped his face.

"Alright, let's do it Sakura!"

The gathered villagers collectively gasped in awe as Naruto activated his biju mode.

"Biju mode? No fair!" Ino whined.

"You guys severely outnumber us. This is totally fair." Sakura countered.

"Can't you turn it off with your sharingan or something Kakashi-sensei?" Ino shot Kakashi a pleading look. They had all seen what Naruto could do in his biju mode during the war.

"I'm afraid not. We'll just have to use our advantage of numbers to overpower him." Kakashi replied with his patented one-eyed smile.

"YOSH! WE WILL USE OUR COLLECTIVE YOUTHS TO OVERCOME ONE OF NARUTO'S MOST POWERFUL MODES!" Lee yelled.

Tsunade could only laugh as her ninjas ran at each other.

* * *

"Are you ever going to stop eating ramen tonight Naruto?" Ino deadpanned as Naruto happily slurped up ramen from his eleventh bowl of the night.

"I'm going to try not to!"

Sakura smiled as she regarded her teammate from the corner of her eye. She was sitting right next to him, and was quite pleased that she hadn't seen a single flash of sadness once yet during the party.

Naruto, and well everyone really, had a blast during their impromptu sparring/training session. She and Naruto ended up getting overpowered and defeated, but not without a fight. Tsunade and she healed everyone up and then everyone went their separate ways so they could freshen up for the party.

Sakura stuck with Naruto of course so she could keep a watchful eye on him. After getting (separate) showers at Naruto's apartment, they came to her home for Naruto's birthday party.

"Am I the only one still eating?" Naruto asked.

"Well we did start eating an hour ago Naruto." Sakura chuckled.

"If you ever stop eating you can open your presents Naruto." Sai said. "Supposedly it's the most exciting part of a birthday party."

"Oooh, so that means you're going to give him your present, eh Sakura?" Ino said with a suggestive wink.

"Shut up Ino." Sakura groaned.

Naruto looked at her with a questioning look on his face but she simply smiled at him.

"Umm... before Naruto opens his presents... Sakura I would just like to officially state that you should not clobber anyone for getting Naruto any presents that you may not agree with." Kakashi said with a nervous look on his face. He hadn't even thought about the wrath of his only female student when he purchased Naruto's gift.

"Oh? Do tell sensei?" Sakura asked with a deceptively sweet smile on her face.

"You're going to hit me again aren't you?" Kakashi deadpanned.

"Depends on if you're trying to further corrupt poor Naruto here or not Kakashi-sensei."

"A little help Naruto?"

"For once I'm not on the receiving end of Sakura-chan's wrath. No way am I going to do anything to change that." Naruto grinned.

"Hey, you're not always on the receiving end of my wrath! You make it sound like I'm an abusive teammate!"

"Right..." Naruto agreed. Sakura could tell that he clearly did not agree and sighed. It wasn't her fault he could be such an idiot sometimes.

Naruto slurped up the last of his ramen and looked over to where the food was set up. Everyone in the room could tell he was debating on getting another bowl or not.

"Well, as much as I would love to eat ramen all night... It's kind of weird being the only person eating in front of everyone like this. So I guess I'll open presents now!"

* * *

A few hours later found Naruto sitting back taking in the scene in front of him. His friends had gotten him pretty amazing gifts, and Kakashi wasn't punched out of Sakura's house when Naruto opened up a complete Icha Icha volume from him. After the presents everyone just talked and goofed around. It was truly the perfect birthday party for Naruto.

But now he had separated himself from everyone else for a second, and his thoughts again began wandering in the same direction they always did on his birthday ever since he found out about his parents.

Sakura still lived with her parents, because she never saw the point of paying for a place of her own, so everywhere Naruto looked there were pictures of the happy Haruno family. They were all nice pictures, but they only reminded Naruto that he had nothing similar with his own family.

He frowned at the thought, but quickly hid it. Today had been a wonderful day, but with the direction his thoughts were headed, he needed to get home before he alerted anyone.

"Ino, have you seen Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"I think she just took the trash out."

"Ok. Well, I'm feeling pretty tired. So will you tell her thanks for everything for me?"

"You're leaving already?" Ino asked.

"Yeah... it's been a great, but exhausting day. You know?"

"I guess so." Ino agreed.

"I'm going to bed everyone. Thanks for everything, and thanks for coming out. Good night!" Naruto announced. He left without another word and quickly headed home where he wouldn't worry anyone with his pain.

* * *

Sakura walked back into her kitchen through her back door and quickly rejoined the party. She frowned when she didn't see Naruto in the room.

"Where did Naruto go?"

"He suddenly got really tired and went home." Ino explained.

"This early huh... Ok. Well, I'll be going too then."

"What? This is your house!"

"My parents should be home shortly. If they aren't, just lock the door when you're all done here. You know where the spare key is Ino."

"Where are you going?"

Sakura flashed her best girl friend a smile. "To give Naruto his present of course." She retreated into her room and came out with a small package wrapped in red paper.

"I didn't spend all that time thinking about the best possible present to get Naruto not to give it to him after all. Thanks for coming everyone, I'll see you all tomorrow I'm sure!"

Sakura left her house with a determined look in her eyes. She wasn't going to let the most important man in her life be in pain on his birthday.

* * *

Naruto's thumb trailed over a photo that Kakashi had given to him a few years back. It was the only picture Naruto had of his parents. They were both wearing a couple of cheesy grins that were similar to his own smile. He idly wondered what a photo with the three of them would've looked like.

Before Naruto could try to picture the image, a knock sounded on his door.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just getting ready for bed." Naruto called to the door. He didn't want anyone seeing him like this.

"No you're not." A voice Naruto recognized quite well called from the other side of the door. "At least not until I go home. Now open up!"

Naruto stood up and hurried to open the door.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"I haven't given you your present yet!" Sakura huffed as she walked into his apartment. She thrust a small red package into his hand. "And you didn't even wait to say goodbye."

"Ah I'm sorry... I was just tired is all."

"Mmhmm." Naruto could tell that Sakura clearly wasn't convinced. "Just open your present."

Naruto tore the wrapping paper to reveal a picture not all that unlike the one he was just looking at. It was a picture of the two of them together, cheesy grins present on their faces... Just like the ones his parents were wearing.

But this photo had one very noticeable difference - the frames. In the top left corner of the frame, just above Sakura, was the word "Heaven." And on the bottom right corner, just below him, was the word, "Earth."

"This is... great Sakura." Naruto breathed as a small smile overtook his face.

"Remember that speech Iruka-sensei gave us after we completed the second part of the chunin exam?"

"How could I forget." Naruto's small smile widened into a full one.

"I've really thought a lot about those words the past couple of months, and I couldn't help but think about how they apply to us. When we first started, I was heaven, you were earth. I was smart, but had no strength. You were strong, but thinking wasn't your strong suit."

"Hey!"

"But together, as teammates, we relied on each other to cover our weaknesses. I depended on your strength more than you may ever realize Naruto. Your strength drove me to become strong myself. For the longest time I used to stress about how little I could do for you. Your battle strategies were so much more intelligent after you returned, you had achieved heaven."

"You were a lot stronger! I think it's safe to say you achieved Earth!" Naruto quickly pointed out.

"I know." Sakura smiled softly at her teammate. "But I still depended on you more than you realize. I still do to be honest... So I used to stress out all the time about what I could do for you, and then one day, my mom had finally had enough. Want to know what she told me?"

"Of course?" Naruto asked. His heart was beating a little quicker than normal as Sakura grabbed both of his hands.

"She told me that I shouldn't worry about what I can or cannot do for you, I should only worry about your happiness... and I realized that she was right. I can't do much for you Naruto, but I can make sure you're happy, and I will make sure you're happy."

"Sakura..." Naruto gasped.

"Anyway, you still have to receive your second gift." Sakura said, seemingly shifting the conversation.

"Second gift? Sakura, this picture is awesome! You didn't need to get me anything."

"I spent a lot of time thinking about this gift Naruto. I want to."

"Ok... but I don't see anything?"

"That's because this one is a surprise Naruto. Close your eyes, I don't want you the surprise spoiled." Sakura said with a nervous look on her face. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for his surprise.

"Ok Naruto..." Sakura whispered. He was caught off guard by how close she was to him all of a sudden. "Happy birthday."

Naruto nearly gasped in shock when a pair of soft lips connected with his own. His eyes shot open in surprise and he tried to pull away to figure out what was happening, but Sakura grabbed the back of his head and kept him firmly in place.

He was brought out of his shock when Sakura's tongue grazed his bottom lip, as if it were seeking entrance into his mouth. He timidly opened his mouth and Sakura's tongue instantly greeted his. She tasted a lot like ramen thanks to his birthday dinner, a fact that Naruto certainly enjoyed all the more.

Sooner than he would've liked, Sakura pulled away with a shy smile on her face and giggled slightly at the stupefied yet overjoyed expression on his face.

"I take it you liked your present?"

"That...was amazing." Naruto gasped. "But...why?"

"I didn't kiss you just because it was your birthday, so get rid of any stupid thoughts like that." Sakura said. "I actually figured everything out about a month ago when I was thinking about all that heaven and earth stuff."

"Figured what out?"

"What you mean to me. It was that revelation that allowed me truly stop worrying about what I could do for you and just focus on your happiness. And that... that made me happier than I had ever really been Naruto."

"What are you saying Sakura?"

"Well..." Sakura looked away. She spent a good couple of hours last night practicing this. "Know that I'm not lying to myself this time when I say this..."

"Say what?" Naruto asked with a hopeful look on his face.

"I don't know if I love you yet Naruto, but I know that I really like you, and if I don't love you right now, then I definitely believe that I can fall in love with you. So I don't want to be just friends with you anymore. I don't want to be a you and me, I want to be an us."

"And you've known this for a month? Why have you waited so long then?" Naruto asked. He wanted to believe Sakura, and in his heart he did. But he had to do his due diligence to make sure Sakura wasn't doing anything because she felt like she should.

"I know how tough today is for you, and I wanted to give you a new memory that would wash away the pain."

"The... I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto deflected. How could she have possibly picked up on that? He had been careful to always keep the pain of his birthday hidden!

"I know that today just reminds you of your parents' sacrifice Naruto. I know it hurts you. But now... Now if you'll have me... today can be the day that you and I finally got together. So I'm sorry for making you wait so long, but I told you that your happiness is very important to me."

Naruto lunged forward and wrapped Sakura in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you." He quietly whispered.

"So I'm going to assume that means we're dating now?" Sakura asked with a grin on her face.

"Thank kami yes!" Naruto replied with a large grin now on his face. "But Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"Before you said that you can't do much for me... That isn't true. You've inspired me over the years to be great. You were part of my dream that kept me pushing forward and gave me the determination I needed to save everyone. But more importantly... there is no one else in this world who could make me feel as happy as I do right now. This may be a little cheesy... but I swear I'm in heaven on earth."

"That was a little cheesy." Sakura chuckled. Her cheeks were pink as she grabbed ahold of Naruto's head. "But cute. You're the only one who can make me this happy Naruto."

Before Naruto could say anything else, Sakura leaned in and kissed him a second time. As her tongue slipped its way back into his mouth, Naruto thanked kami for her. For the first time in twenty years of life... Naruto Uzumaki had a truly happy birthday.

* * *

Happy 8th Birthday Heaven & Earth! Please do review =)


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